Combining resources to offer the Cheshire Diabetes Prevention Program to those at risk for type 2 diabetes.

Together, preventing type 2 diabetes is possible

Leaders at Keene Senior Center, Keene Family YMCA, and Cheshire Medical Center work together to make it easier for people in the Monadnock Region with prediabetes to participate in a high-quality lifestyle change program to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes.

Efforts throughout the region to live healthier have made some movement in the prevention of diabetes in our community. But if we’re looking at numbers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that one in three American adults has prediabetes. That means of the approximately 56,100 adults in Cheshire County, 3,646 are living with prediabetes. Three community organizations are partnering to help reduce that number.

Cheshire Medical Center, The Keene Family YMCA, and the Keene Senior Center are combining resources to once again offer the Cheshire Diabetes Prevention Program (CDPP) to individuals at risk for type 2 diabetes in the Monadnock Region. The CDPP is part of the National Diabetes Prevention Program, led by the CDC.

Participants in this year-long program meet in groups with a trained lifestyle coach to learn the skills they need to make lasting changes such as losing a modest amount of weight, being more physically active, and managing stress in an effort to prevent type 2 diabetes.

The program’s group setting provides a supportive environment with people facing similar challenges and trying to make the same changes. “Lifestyle change is best when you can share your journey and success with someone else,” explains Jennifer Begley, Director, Resiliency and Wellbeing at Cheshire Medical Center, “Members of the [CDPP] groups have developed friendships that have helped participants be successful in this journey to better health.”

CDPP groups meet once a week for 16 weeks, then monthly for 8 months to maintain healthy lifestyle changes.

Click here for more information about the program or call (603) 354-6866.